How to Write a CFI Lesson Plan (7-Step Format)

Every CFI candidate hits the same wall: a blank document, a maneuver to teach, and no idea where to start. So they do what feels productive — they open the PHAK, start typing everything they know about steep turns, and three hours later they have four dense pages nobody could teach from, least of all them.

Here's the method that actually works. It's the same 7-step format behind every plan in the Teach to Fly lesson plans, and it maps directly to what the examiner grades on checkride day.

Step 0: Start with the ACS, not a blank page

Before you write a word, open FAA-S-ACS-25 to the task you're planning. Read the Knowledge elements, the Risk Management elements, and the Skills. That list is your lesson's content requirements — the examiner built the checkride from it, so build your plan from it too.

For example, a steep-turns lesson isn't "everything about steep turns." It's the specific elements in Area IX, Task A: the aerodynamics that matter (load factor, overbanking tendency), the procedure, the common errors the ACS lists, and the completion standards with the actual numbers. If an element is in the ACS task, it's in your plan. If it's not, it's decoration — cut it.

This one habit separates plans examiners respect from plans they flip past. Most candidates write from memory and hope they covered everything. Start from the ACS and coverage is automatic.

The 7 steps, in order

Every lesson plan — ground or flight — follows the same backbone. Memorize it, because on checkride day the examiner hands you a maneuver and you run this format without thinking:

1. Objective — one sentence, stated in the first 30 seconds. What the student will be able to do when the lesson ends. ("By the end of this lesson, you will be able to perform steep turns to ACS standards.") This is the first thing the examiner listens for.
2. Motivation — why it matters. One real-world hook. Steep turns aren't about turning steeply; they're about load factor awareness and the maneuvering-speed lessons that keep you alive in turbulence. Without motivation, you're lecturing. With it, you're teaching.
3. Roadmap — the elements of the lesson in the order you'll teach them. Tell the student where the lesson is going before you go there. ("First the aerodynamics, then the procedure, then you'll fly three of them while I coach.")
4. Teach — the demonstration-performance method. Explain it, demonstrate it, the student performs it, you supervise and correct. This is the bulk of the lesson, and it should be mostly doing, not talking.
5. Common errors — name them before the student makes them. The ACS lists them for nearly every task; add the ones you've actually seen. Examiners specifically notice whether this step exists.
6. Standards — the completion standards with real numbers, stated before the student tries. The student should know exactly what "good enough" looks like.
7. Check and close — real questions that prove understanding (not "any questions?"), a recap of the objective, and the assignment for next time.

Run all seven, in order, for any maneuver or ground lesson. There's nothing left in the examiner's head to mark you down on.

Write it to teach from, not to read

The most common mistake in CFI lesson plans is writing paragraphs. Paragraphs get read aloud, and reading aloud isn't teaching — it's reciting, and the examiner knows the difference within about thirty seconds.

Write talking points, not prose. Short phrases, in the order you'll say them. Your plan should work at a glance: eyes down for one second, eyes back on the student. If you need to read a full sentence to remember what comes next, the plan is too dense — simplify it until you can teach from memory with the page as a safety net.

One to two pages per maneuver lesson. That's the target. Anything longer won't survive contact with a real lesson.

Put the common errors in before you need them

This is the step candidates skip and examiners notice. For every maneuver, the ACS hands you a Common Errors list — put it in the plan verbatim, then add the errors you've actually watched students make. "Fixating on the attitude indicator instead of outside references" is an ACS error. "Chasing the altimeter with pitch instead of trimming" is one you've seen. Both belong in the plan.

Brief the errors before the student flies, correct them in the debrief after. That rhythm — prevent, then correct — is what instructional knowledge actually looks like, and it's exactly what Area IV of the checkride grades.

One lesson, one teaching figure

Every plan needs one visual: a diagram, a chart, a photo you can point at. The examiner scores whether you used a training aid, so this isn't optional decoration — it's a graded element of the lesson.

Put the figure where the student can see it, and point at the diagram while you teach, not at the wall. A steep-turns lesson gets the load-factor chart. A weather lesson gets the chart-symbol excerpt. One figure, referenced constantly, beats five figures nobody looks at.

The real test: teach it out loud

A lesson plan isn't finished when it's written. It's finished when you've taught it. Close the binder, set a timer for five minutes, and teach the lesson to an empty room — objective through check-and-close, out loud, no reading.

Notice where you stumble. That's what you don't actually know yet, and it's the most valuable diagnostic in your entire checkride prep. Go back, fix the plan, teach it again. Do that for every maneuver and you'll walk into the checkride having already taught each lesson dozens of times.

That's the difference between studying the checkride and rehearsing it — and rehearsal is what passes. For more on that distinction, read why people fail the CFI checkride. And if you're wondering how many lesson plans you actually need, the answer is simpler than the forums make it.

If you want to try the format before committing, there's a free sample lesson plan on the site — the full 7-step layout, yours to keep.